Digital content and service distribution spans a wide range of different industries and companies, including online internet subscription-based content providers, online internet marketplaces, cloud-based services, cable/satellite TV operators, telecommunication companies, and consumer electronics manufacturers. Different sources of content and services provide their consumers with different types of content items and services, through different types of media, using different types of business models. For example, if the source is an online internet subscription-based content provider, it may provide its consumers with temporary access rights to online internet video, music, games, images, or financial services, in exchange for a regular subscription payment. As another example, if the source is an online internet marketplace, it may provide its consumers with permanent ownership rights to download various types of internet content, in exchange for a one-time purchase. As another example, if the source is an email service, it may enable its consumers to communicate via email, messaging, or voice, in exchange for different levels of subscription plans. As yet another example, if the source is a cable/satellite operator, it may provide its consumers with a choice of various bundled packages of scheduled programming and on-demand content, in exchange for different tiers of subscription plan payments.
Different sources, such as content and service distribution companies, typically keep track of consumers by maintaining a record for each consumer, including user name and address, payment information, account number and/or username and password. When a consumer attempts to access a content item or service from a source, the source typically verifies the user's credentials via an appropriate authentication protocol, determines access privileges for the consumer, and presents the content item or service to the consumer. Meanwhile, another source may have its own relationship with the same consumer, maintaining its own database of the consumer's information, and use its own authentication credentials to verify the consumer's access privileges for the content item or service provided by the source. Therefore, a single consumer typically has multiple relationships with different sources, and uses different access mechanisms to consume content items and services from each source.